"I think we've been friendly to domestic pets, like most cities probably have," Thompson said. "But it is because of the thinking of the council and the little bit of citizen input we've got that we've made this ordinance that is family-protective and family-friendly."

This ordinance is a good thing, according to Russ Mead, general counsel for the Best Friends Animal Society, which is one of the nation's largest sanctuaries for abused and abandoned pets.

Even though Utah doesn't require wolf dogs to be licensed, Mead says the animals are dangerous and they can't be trusted. One minute, the animals can act like dogs, Mead says, but at any time, they can shift to be wolves.

"They can't be domesticated and they shouldn't be domesticated and they shouldn't be in people's homes," Mead said. "They're magnificent animals, but they don't fit in anywhere. ... It's just irresponsible breeding that creates these wolf dogs, and we (the Best Friends Animal Society) have to clean up the messes of the irresponsible breeders of these animals."

Bentley inadvertently brought attention to the city's nonordinance for exotic pets in February, when he moved from Oregon to American Fork. When the wolf-dog lover arrived in the city, he made a courtesy call to the city's animal control officer to let him know that his licensed and vaccinated wolf dogs were in town.

From there, concerns were raised because the city didn't have any laws prohibiting potentially dangerous animals, but Bentley was made aware that he might have to euthanize his dogs if such a law was put in place.

Bentley argues that his 6-year-old girls, with their ash-white eyelashes and big brown eyes, have never been violent toward anyone. The dogs are a mix of wolf, husky and German shepherd, which makes them stronger than average canines, but strength doesn't mean violence, Bentley said. Mixed dogs that lash out are a product of their upbringing, for which their caretaker is responsible.

"It all goes back to how a person treats the animal, not what kind of breed it is," Bentley said. "There are some breeds that are more dangerous, but (violent incidents) usually come back to human error, and we tend to focus on the breed."

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E-mail: achoate@desnews.com